FROM COSMOS
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All episodes/Episode 4.1

Episode 4.1 · 31 min

Earth’s First Ecosystems

How microbes built Earth’s first ecosystems by using chemical energy and sunlight, cycling nutrients, and changing the chemistry of rock, water, and air.

Watch this film on YouTube ↗

Visual credits

30 sources

Sources and credits for imagery used in this film, including material incorporated into explanatory animations.

  • ARCHIVED – NASA Astrobiology - Strap in – it’s time to meet your ancient ancestors! Fossilized micro...

    ARCHIVED – NASA Astrobiology

    View original source ↗

  • Scientific figure · source page 4

    Raphael J. Baumgartner et al.

    View original source ↗

    Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

  • Thermophiles — Yellowstone microbial mats

    NPS/Hugo Sindelar

    View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain (identified live-action excerpts)

    Two live-action landscape excerpts, edited beneath original narration; original soundtrack not used.

    Public-domain live-action microbial-mat excerpts from Thermophiles. Credit: NPS/Hugo Sindelar.

  • Transmission electron micrograph of cells of C. lacus sp. nov. YLOS41

    Jing Zhang, Cheng Gao, Xue-Mei Yu, He-Yuan Lun and Zong-Jun Du

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 4.0

  • Transmission electron micrograph of Methanomassiliicoccus luminyensis B10T

    Kletzin A, Heimerl T, Flechsler J, van Niftrik L, Rachel R and Klingl A (2015) Dridi, B., Fardeau, M., Ollivier, B., Raoult, D., & Drancourt, M. (2012)

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 4.0

  • Diaphragmatic breathing 1

    User:Girabbit85

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC0

  • Water wheel looped Unterreichenbach

    Frank Vincentz, (looped gif by Jahobr )

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 3.0

    Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

  • Snímek ze skenovacího elektronového mikroskopu Methanobacterium formicicum

    Andreia F. Salvador, Gilberto Martins, Manuel Melle-Franco, Ricardo Serpa, Alfons J.M. Stams, Ana J. Cavaleiro, M. Alcina Pereira, M. Madalena Alves

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 4.0

  • Deep-Ocean Bites: Microbes and Chemosynthesis - NOAA Ocean Exploration (1)

    NOAA Ocean Exploration and National Marine Sanctuary Foundation

    View original source ↗

  • Ocean core sediments on the Polarstern

    Hannes Grobe , AWI

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 3.0

  • Cow in Field image

    Kanimozhi Vennila

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC0

  • Banded iron formation Milano

    L. Shyamal

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC0

  • Shark Bay (MODIS 2021-06-21)

    MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC

    View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain

  • Stromatolites at Hamelin Pool in Shark Bay - Western Australia - 27 Aug. 2014

    Bryn Pinzgauer

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 2.0

  • Living stromatolites, Shark Bay, Western Australia

    Ed Landing & Markes E. Johnson (in: Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 2024)

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 4.0

  • Stromatolite (Strelley Pool Formation, Paleoarchean, 3.35-3.46 Ga; East Strelley Greenstone Belt, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia) 3 (16750046154)

    James St. John

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 2.0

  • Guerrero Negro hypersaline microbial mat at 1 mm resolution (Figure 1)

    Araceli M. Sarabia-Lemus et al.; panel A photo credit Jose Q. Garcia Maldonado

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 4.0

  • Dresser Formation stromatolite drill-core sample

    Australian Centre for Astrobiology (@AussieAstrobio)

    View original source ↗

  • Strelley Pool Formation stromatolite lamination, detailed field view

    Charlie Verdel (@CSVerdel)

    View original source ↗

  • Stromatolite (Strelley Pool Formation, Paleoarchean, 3.35-3.46 Ga; East Strelley Greenstone Belt, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia) 2 (17186345399)

    James St. John

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 2.0

    Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

  • RCSB PDB 3WU2 photosystem II biological assembly

    RCSB Protein Data Bank; structure by Umena et al.

    View original source ↗

  • 2010 Filamentous Cyanobacteria Bloom near Fiji

    Norman Kuring

    View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain

    Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

  • Kelp forest at Strawberry Rocks PC013138

    Peter Southwood

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 3.0

    Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

  • Green leaf with sunlight

    Joselodos

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC0

    Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

  • Harmful Water Organisms (21461433360)

    U.S. Geological Survey from Reston, VA, USA

    View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain

  • PDB 1n2c EBI

    Jawahar Swaminathan and MSD staff at the European Bioinformatics Institute

    View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain

  • Researchers examining fresh Moodies Group drill cores

    Martin Homann (@matworlds)

    View original source ↗

  • Scientific figure · source page 16

    Martin Homann et al.

    View original source ↗

    Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

  • Cryptobiotic soil - Flickr - brewbooks

    brewbooks from near Seattle, USA

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 2.0

  • Red Lake NGI10-31 stratigraphy and geochemistry (Figure 1)

    Fuencisla Canadas et al.

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 4.0

    Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

Research references

Selected sources from the episode’s research and scientific figures.

  1. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gbi.12610 ↗
  2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301926807001234 ↗
  3. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0610-4 ↗
  4. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature21377 ↗
  5. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4664351/ ↗
  6. https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-earth-040523-124821 ↗
  7. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11242044/ ↗
  8. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature02888 ↗
  9. https://reinhard.gatech.edu/uploads/5/4/1/0/54106417/thompsonetal2019.pdf ↗
  10. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2572968/ ↗
  11. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-018-0190-9 ↗
  12. homann 2018 moodies terrestrial mats ↗
  13. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature14180 ↗
  14. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6763417/ ↗
  15. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5972617/ ↗
  16. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature09913 ↗
  17. https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2004/cp/b408980d ↗
  18. https://www.rcsb.org/structure/3WU2 ↗
  19. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6492235/ ↗
  20. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3710856/ ↗
  21. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3816460/ ↗
  22. https://www.rcsb.org/structure/9E0J ↗
  23. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2427090122 ↗
  24. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8479356/ ↗
  25. https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/4/2/pgaf035/7997033 ↗
  26. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09009-8 ↗
  27. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06896-7 ↗
  28. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aax1420 ↗
  29. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8724090/ ↗
  30. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-69826-x ↗
  31. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2483411/ ↗
  32. guerrero negro microbial mat layers ↗
  33. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-16651-z ↗
  34. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0070457108711476 ↗
  35. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6452703/ ↗
  36. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-025-01678-4 ↗
  37. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1864812 ↗
  38. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37027472/ ↗
  39. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7043912/ ↗
  40. https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/publications/primary-productivity-was-limited-by-electron-donors-prior-to-the-/ ↗
  41. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12329438/ ↗
  42. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1815573 ↗
  43. https://science.nasa.gov/resource/tumbiana-stromatolite/ ↗
  44. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2024.0106 ↗
  45. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3870916/ ↗
  46. https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms15263 ↗
  47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2017.11.028 ↗
  48. https://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo1238 ↗
  49. moody 2025 metabolisms ↗
  50. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04584 ↗
  51. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X09000296 ↗
  52. https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.21919 ↗
  53. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2322120121 ↗
  54. https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-earth-060313-054810 ↗
  55. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10808959/ ↗
  56. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12493910/ ↗
  57. https://gfzpublic.gfz.de/pubman/faces/ViewItemFullPage.jsp?itemId=item_5038297_1 ↗
  58. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-025-01690-8 ↗
  59. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17901330/ ↗
  60. https://pages.uoregon.edu/slouca/LoucaLab/SECTION_Publications/MODULE_Publications/Files/Husain2026Molecular.pdf ↗
  61. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40770997/ ↗
  62. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27589-7 ↗
  63. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8480925/ ↗
  64. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-024-02461-1 ↗
  65. https://www.pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1073/pnas.2417673121 ↗
  66. https://www.nasa.gov/ochmo-tb-004-carbon-dioxide-2/ ↗
  67. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20200002230/downloads/20200002230.pdf ↗
  68. https://www.bushheritage.org.au/species/stromatolites ↗
  69. https://www.nps.gov/media/photo/gallery.htm?id=A0628AB3-1DD8-B71B-0B9CE4242E4C96A7 ↗
  70. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3935151/ ↗
  71. DOI: 10.1111/gbi.12610 ↗
  72. baumgartner 2024 dresser archimer ↗
  73. buck reef chert 2019 ↗
  74. buck reef chert 2019 pdf ↗
  75. canadas 2025 red lake ↗
  76. guerrero negro microbial mat layers pdf ↗
  77. horne 2025 early oxygen delays goe ↗
  78. westall 2025 earliest life ↗

Music

  • Meditation From The Star Orion
    OctahedronMusic · Envato Elements
Footage and image usage

Credits and usage times retained from the published edition or its production credit record. Where present, times identify visual appearances, not documentary chapters. Source and licence corrections are listed in the visual credits above.

  • Andreia F. Salvador, Gilberto Martins, Manuel Melle-Franco, Ricardo Serpa, Alfons J.M. Stams, Ana J. Cavaleiro, M. Alcina Pereira, M. Madalena Alves - 5:30-5:35
  • Araceli M. Sarabia-Lemus et al.; panel A photo credit Jose Q. Garcia Maldonado - 13:49-13:57
  • ARCHIVED – NASA Astrobiology @NASAAstrobio - 0:00-0:03, 0:03-0:09, 0:16-0:23, 7:20-7:29, 10:49-11:11, 15:52-15:56; source: Original source ↗
  • Australian Centre for Astrobiology (@AussieAstrobio) - 15:56-16:03
  • brewbooks from near Seattle, USA - 25:10-25:24
  • Bryn Pinzgauer - 12:42-12:54, 15:40-15:52
  • Charlie Verdel (@CSVerdel) - 16:13-16:18
  • Ed Landing & Markes E. Johnson (in: Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 2024) - 12:54-13:02
  • Frank Vincentz, (looped gif by Jahobr ) - 3:35-3:39
  • Hannes Grobe , AWI - 5:55-5:57
  • Yellowstone microbial-mat footage from Thermophiles. Credit: NPS/Hugo Sindelar. Public domain, confirmed by Yellowstone National Park Public Affairs. Source: Original source ↗
  • James St. John - 13:38-13:45, 16:40-16:48
  • Jawahar Swaminathan and MSD staff at the European Bioinformatics Institute - 23:13-23:20
  • Jing Zhang, Cheng Gao, Xue-Mei Yu, He-Yuan Lun and Zong-Jun Du - 1:06-1:15
  • Joselodos - 20:53-21:00
  • Kanimozhi Vennila - 5:57-6:00
  • Kletzin A, Heimerl T, Flechsler J, van Niftrik L, Rachel R and Klingl A (2015) Dridi, B., Fardeau, M., Ollivier, B., Raoult, D., & Drancourt, M. (2012) - 1:15-1:23
  • L. Shyamal - 10:10-10:19
  • Martin Homann (@matworlds) - 24:26-24:33
  • MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC - 12:37-12:42
  • NOAA Ocean Exploration and National Marine Sanctuary Foundation - 5:52-5:55; source: Original source ↗
  • Norman Kuring - 20:46-20:51
  • Peter Southwood - 20:51-20:53
  • Raphael J. Baumgartner et al. - 0:23-0:26, 16:03-16:13
  • RCSB Protein Data Bank; structure by Umena et al. - 19:35-19:57
  • U.S. Geological Survey from Reston, VA, USA - 21:06-21:11
  • User:Girabbit85 - 2:17-2:19; source: Original source ↗
  • Custom animations and figures: From Cosmos to Civilization. Third-party material incorporated into animations is credited on the linked sources page.

How this film was made

Created and editorially directed by Anders Lunde using a custom production system developed over six months. AI assists research, drafting, programming, and visual production; I review and edit the material and make the final editorial decisions. Narration uses text-to-speech. Visuals combine custom-built scientific animations, AI-generated reconstructions, and credited scientific imagery.

Generated reconstructions illustrate scientific interpretations. They are distinct from photographs, specimens, and measured data.

More about the creator and production →